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‘We were lucky you were here. And I think today has proven how important it is to get more expertise into the community, not less.’

‘Can’t argue with that. I hate to think what would have happened if you’d had to wait for an ambulance. It’s easy to forget how isolated we are here sometimes.’ She stretched and cricked her neck. ‘I really need to go home and shower. I must stink.’

‘I couldn’t possibly comment.’ Callum grinned at her. ‘I’ll still see you tonight at the party?’

‘You know, in all the excitement I’d forgotten about that.’

Chapter Eight

Music and laughter filled the air as Liv hesitated by the gate. The address was the one Callum had given her, and although he and Sarah insisted she was welcome and almost demanded that she came, she felt nervous. She didn’t know Jake or Evelyn, and felt like she was intruding, even by standing in the driveway.

But she hadn’t wanted to disappoint Sarah, so had turned up, clutching a bottle of wine despite Callum telling her not to bring anything. She’d spent time and effort pampering herself — which was something she almost never did. But after the morning she’d had, and the battle to bring Oliver safely into the world, she’d treated herself to a long soak in the cottage’s old-fashioned, roll-top bathtub. And as she was already in the bath, she’d decided to treat herself to a facemask and deep conditioning treatment on her hair. She’d even taken time to paint her nails and felt fresh and pretty in the summery dress that swished around her ankles and the sparkly sandals she’d found in a village store.

She ran her hands through her loose hair and gave herself a pep talk: you can do this. And she’d already learned, a dozen times over, that Broclington was a lot further removed from her former city life than the geographical miles involved. She smoothed her dress and straightened her shoulders before knocking on the gate.

‘It’s open. Come on in.’

She came face-to-face with a slim blonde woman with the brightest green eyes Liv had ever seen. She was balancing a plate piled high with burgers in one hand and a huge bowl of salad in the other. ‘You must be Olivia. Just let me put these down. Come in, come in.’

Liv followed, still feeling slightly awkward.

‘There.’ The blonde put the salad bowl down on a table already groaning with food, and handed the pile of burgers off to a tall man with dark hair and eyes as blue as Callum’s. ‘It’s so nice to meet you, Olivia. We’ve heard so much about you. I’m Evelyn, and this is Jake. And somewhere, running around here, is my daughter, Summer.’ Her handshake was firm and warm.

‘Well, you already know who I am,’ Liv said with a smile as she remembered the wine. ‘This is for you. And please call me Liv. Most people do.’

‘That’s so sweet. You really didn’t need to. But thank you. Come with me. We’ll pop this in the fridge, get you a drink, and introduce you to everyone you don’t already know.’

Liv followed her, glad to be told what to do rather than standing around feeling like a spare part. ‘You have a really lovely home.’

‘Thank you.’ Evelyn opened a cupboard. ‘I’d love to take credit for it all, but most of it is Jake’s handiwork. Summer and I just rolled on up and unpacked. Come and say hello to Angela. She runs the local animal rescue, and works with Jake a lot.’

‘I also make a mean mojito. Can I offer you one?’ The brunette called Angela gave her a friendly smile and held out a hand. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m on bar duty today. There’s juice and home-made lemonade if you’d prefer something soft.’

‘A mojito sounds lovely—’ Liv shook the offered hand — ‘and it’s nice to meet you too.’

‘Should be champagne, from what I hear,’ Millie said, walking into the kitchen and giving Liv a quick hug. ‘I’m so, so sorry I wasn’t there. I thought I’d had a busy shift up at the hospital, but it sounds like it was a walk in the park compared to your day!’ Millie’s eyes took on a serious look as the smile fell from her face. ‘Thank you so much for being there, and for everything you did for Marie.’

‘You’d have done the same.’ Liv tried to shrug away the compliment, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself. She’d done her job, that was all.

‘What have I missed?’ Angela looked to Millie when Liv refused to answer.

‘The successful emergency home delivery of Marie Brown’s baby. Despite a cord prolapse.’

‘Oh, wow. That’s brilliant.’ Evelyn gave her a warm smile. ‘I know how easily that could have gone badly. Well done you.’

‘It was a team effort,’ Liv said as she felt the colour rising in her cheeks.

‘Well, I’m glad to have you on our team.’ Evelyn grinned. ‘And I’ve been hearing amazing things about this new proposal for the surgery.’

‘It’s brilliant, isn’t it?’ Millie agreed. ‘Callum gave me a copy after he’d submitted it.’

‘Er, what did you think about it?’ Liv wasn’t sure she really wanted to know. She felt compelled to ask, but was incredibly worried about the answer. What if they didn’t like it? Or, worse, what if they all did but the commissioners didn’t? It was more than a likely possibility.

‘I think—’ Millie grinned at her — ‘that you might well have saved all of our jobs. It’s such a curve ball that they might just agree to it. Especially when they see the calculations put into the final pages. I mean, we all know delaying people’s release from hospital isn’t good for them and is expensive . . . but I didn’t realise it was that expensive, or that getting people back into their own homes is so much more cost-effective.’

‘It’s always been a huge problem. In every area I’ve worked in,’ Evelyn agreed. ‘And the money is just part of it. As brilliant as they are, hospitals aren’t the best places for long-term recovery. With a bit of extra support, most people are much happier at home. The team I worked for before Broclington specialised in re-enablement. I’d be thrilled to see more of it here. And I loved the idea of having a minor surgical suite. It’s ridiculous that we have to send lacerations and aspirations to the hospital. We could even do some biopsies here, which could speed things up and reduce the stress and worry on our patients.’

‘It sounds like it would be good for everyone.’ Angela nodded.